For centuries, nature has been our most trusted pharmacy, offering an abundance of healing herbs. When combined in the right proportions and formulations, these botanical wonders can support health, alleviate ailments, and enhance well-being. However, as with all remedies, the key to tapping into the profound benefits of herbal medicine lies in choosing and using the correct formulas tailored to individual needs. Diving into herbal formulations requires blending ancient wisdom, modern science, and understanding one’s unique body and health conditions. How are you able to do all that?
REBALANCE WITH NATURE’S HERBAL WISDOM
Herbs offer a unique approach to healing and rejuvenating the body, While Western Medicine often suppresses specific symptoms, allowing the disease to continue to progress, herbs aim to restore and rebalance the body’s natural equilibrium. Restoring and repairing your internal balance improves your physical health, and your emotional well-being is uplifted. This philosophy of balance and harmony is deeply embedded in Chinese Medicine. Instead of merely suppressing a symptom as some pharmaceuticals might, Chinese Herbal Medicine seeks to work with the body, mending the root causes of ailments.
That is balance and harmony in herbal medicine:
1. The ability to find the herbs to balance your chemistry.
2. The harmony achieved inside your body as you return to a state of health.
HERB QUALITY MATTERS
You can also impact your health outcomes by what herbs you choose. The quality of herbs varies significantly—from untested varieties to medical-grade herbs that adhere to rigorous cultivation, harvesting, and processing standards. In the United States, unlike other countries, herbs are considered a supplement instead of a medical prescription. Most product purchased in retail outlets lacks testing and may have misleading labeling. Using inferior-quality herbs can often lead to no noticeable health improvements, giving the impression that herbs are ineffective.
CHOOSING HERBAL ALLIES WITH INTENT
Well-meaning friends and family often recommend herbs or formulas that have worked wonders for them. It’s natural to want to share solutions that have brought relief, and we’ve seen this even with pharmaceuticals—a classic example being pain medications. However, what if the recommended herb doesn’t align with your needs or the quality isn’t up to par?
In the clinic, I commonly encounter new clients presenting herbal formulas they’ve been taking without any tangible improvement. Some even report deteriorating health or new, unexpected symptoms. I’ve noticed this is more common with the advent of COVID because COVID has changed our immune systems. Western and Eastern medicine are struggling to address the changes. These changes allow for misdirection and misinterpretation.
Yet, to harness the power of nature, you need to find your balance and harmony with it. Consider the immense energy an atom can release when split. That’s the intrinsic potential in nature and every herb and herbal formula.
If that is the power potential of herbs, then you want to choose with intent. If this were a dance partner, choose a trained partner who brings rich experience to the floor. Reflecting on nature’s power, if you can select an herb or herbal formula nurtured and cultivated to encapsulate this power and pair it with the proper guidance to harmonize with your body’s energy, you’re on the path to a holistic transformation.
HARNESS YOUR POTENTIAL
Underlying a beautiful concept, is it as straightforward as it seems? To truly harness the benefits of herbs, one needs a comprehensive grasp of herbs’ properties and potential interactions, along with insight into individual constitution. Achieving harmony between the properties of the herbs and your body’s unique chemistry is essential. When this alignment is achieved, you experience amazing changes within your body.
And I’m not saying you need to do this with every formula you decide to take. But for those health symptoms taxing your emotional and physical constitution, think about seeking help from a qualified professional who has been trained in nature’s pharmacology. Although my formal education included an extensive education in Chinese Herbal Pharmacology, not all universities that train acupuncturists include formal education in herbs.
If your health has been feeling exhausted and run down, and you can’t seem to shake the fatigue, reach out to the clinic for a free 15-minute consult to see if there is an opportunity for you with a holistic approach in Chinese Herbal Pharmacology.